Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This application is a continuation of utility application Ser. No. 10/091,410 and all parts of the parent application are incorporated herein by this specific reference.
This invention relates to fastening mechanisms, specifically to such nail or staple fastening mechanisms that require operation as a hand tool. This invention relates generally to an electromechanical fastener driving tool. Such devices are less than 15 pounds and are completely suitable for an entirely portable operation.
Contractors and homeowners commonly use power-assisted means of driving fasteners into wood. These can be either in the form of finishing nail systems used in baseboards or crown molding in house and household projects, or in the form of common nail systems that are used to make walls or hang sheathing onto same. These systems can be portable (not connected or tethered to an air compressor or wall outlet) or non-portable.
The most common fastening system uses a source of compressed air to actuate a cylinder to push a nail into the receiving members. For applications in which portability is not required, this is a very functional system and allows rapid delivery of nails for quick assembly. It does however require that the user purchase an air compressor and associated air-lines in order to use this system.
Thereafter, inventors have created several types of portable nail guns operating off of fuel cells. Typically these guns have a cylinder in which a fuel is introduced along with oxygen from the air. The subsequent mixture is ignited with the resulting expansion of gases pushing the cylinder and thus driving the nail into the work pieces. Typical within this design is the need for a fairly complicated assembly. Both electricity and fuel are required as the spark source derives its energy typically from batteries. In addition, it requires the chambering of an explosive mixture of fuel and the use of consumable fuel cartridges. Systems such as these are already in existence and are sold commercially to contractors under the Paslode name.
There are other nail guns that are available commercially, which operate using electrical energy. They are commonly found as electric staplers and electric brad tackers. The normal mode of operation for these devices is through the use of a solenoid that is driven off of a power cord that is plugged into a wall outlet. One of the drawbacks of these types of mechanisms is that the force provided by a solenoid is governed by the number of ampere-turns in the solenoid. In order to obtain the high forces required for driving brads and staples into the work piece, a larger number of turns are required in addition to high current pulses. These requirements are counterproductive as the resistance of the coil increases in direct proportion to the length of the wire in the solenoid windings. The increased resistance necessitates an increase in the operational voltage in order to keep the amps thru the windings at a high level and thus the ampere-turns at a sufficiently large level to obtain the high forces needed to drive the nail. This type of design suffers from a second drawback in that the force in a solenoid varies in relation to the distance of the solenoid core from the center of the windings. This limits most solenoid driven mechanisms to short stroke small load applications such as paper staplers or small brad tackers.
The prior art teaches three additional ways of driving a nail or staple. The first technique is based on a multiple impact design. In this design, a motor or other power source is connected to the impact anvil thru either a lost motion coupling or other. This allows the power source to make multiple impacts on the nail thus driving it into the work piece. There are several disadvantages in this design that include increased operator fatigue since the actuation technique is a series of blows rather than a continuous drive motion. A further disadvantage is that this technique requires the use of an energy absorbing mechanism once the nail is seated. This is needed to prevent the heavy anvil from causing excessive damage to the substrate. Additionally, the multiple impact designs normally require a very heavy mechanism to insure that the driver does not move during the driving operation.
A second design that is taught includes the use of potential energy storage mechanisms in the form of a spring. In these designs, the spring is cocked (or activated) through an electric motor. Once the spring is sufficiently compressed, the energy is released from the spring into the anvil (or nail driving piece) thus pushing the nail into the substrate. Several drawbacks exist to this design. These include the need for a complex system of compressing and controlling the spring and the fact that the force delivery characteristics of a spring are not well suited for driving nails. As the nail is driven into the wood, more force is needed as the stroke increases. This is inherently backwards to a springs unloading scheme in which it delivers less force as it returns to its zero energy state.
A third means for driving a fastener that is taught includes the use of flywheels as energy storage means. The flywheels are used to launch a hammering anvil that impacts the nail. This design is described in detail in patent #4,042,036, #5,511,715 and #5,320,270. The major drawback to this design is the problem of coupling the flywheel to the driving anvil. This prior art teaches the use of a friction clutching mechanism that is both complicated, heavy and subject to wear. This design also suffers from difficulty in controlling the energy left over after the nail is driven. Operator fatigue is also a concern as significant precession forces are present with flywheels that rotate in a continuous manner. An additional method of using a flywheel to store energy to drive a fastener is detailed in British Patent #2,000,716. This patent teaches the use of a continuously rotating flywheel coupled to a toggle link mechanism to drive a fastener. This design is limited by the large precession forces incurred because of the continuously rotating flywheel and the complicated and unreliable nature of the toggle link mechanism.
All of the currently available devices suffer from a number of disadvantages that include:
1. Complexity of design. With the fuel driven mechanisms, portability is achieved but the design is inherently complicated. Mechanisms from the prior art that utilize rotating flywheels have enormously complicated coupling or clutching mechanisms. Devices that use springs as a potential energy storage device also have complicated spring compression mechanisms.
2. Noisy. The ignition of an explosive mixture to drive a nail causes a very loud sound and presents combustion fumes in the vicinity of the device. Multiple impact devices have a loud jack hammer type noise.
3. Complexity of operation. Combustion driven portable nail guns are more complicated to operate. They require consumables (fuel) that need to be replaced.
4. Use of consumables. Combustion driven portable nail gun designs use a fuel cell that dispenses a flammable mixture into the piston combustion area. The degree of control over the nail operation is very crude as you are trying to control the explosion of a combustible mixture.
5. Non-portability. Traditional nail guns are tethered to a fixed compressor and thus must maintain a separate supply line.
6. Using a spring as a potential energy storage device suffers from unoptimized drive characteristics. Additionally, the unused energy from the spring which is not used in driving the nail must be absorbed by the tool causing excessive wear.
7. The flywheel type storage devices suffer from significant precession forces as the flywheels are not intermittent and are left rotating at high speeds. This makes tool positioning difficult. The use of counter-rotating flywheels as a solution to this issue increases the complexity and weight of the tool.
8. Need for precise motor control for repeatable drives. Flywheel designs that throw an anvil must control flywheel speeds xc2x11% to ensure repeatable drives. This creates a need for highly complex and precise control over the motor.
In accordance with the present invention, a fastening mechanism is described which derives its power from a low impedance electrical source, preferably rechargeable batteries, and uses a motor to directly drive a mechanism which pushes a fastener into a substrate. Upon receipt of an actuation signal from an electrical switch, an electronic circuit, which may be as simple as an on-off switch, connects a motor to the electrical power source. The motor is coupled to a kinetic energy storing mechanism, such as a flywheel, preferably through a speed reduction mechanism. Both the motor and the flywheel begin to spin. Within a prescribed amount of time, the flywheel is clutched to a fastener driving device that drives the anvil through an output stroke. The preferred fastener driving device is a slider crank mechanism. The clutching mechanism is preferably of a mechanical lockup design that allows for rapid and positive connection of the fastener driving device to the energy stored in the flywheel. A position indicating feedback device sends a signal to the electronics when the fastener driving device is at the bottom dead center of the stroke. The electronics processes this signal and disconnects the motor and begins to brake the flywheel. The preferred mode for the braking mechanism is to use dynamic braking from the motor followed by motor reversal if required to stop the flywheel within a prescribed distance. The clutching mechanism is preferably designed to allow significant variance in terms of the starting and stopping points to allow for a robust design. Once the brake is applied and the electronics completely reset, the fastening mechanism is ready for another cycle.
Accordingly, in addition to the objects and advantages of the portable electric nail gun as described above, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
1. To provide a fastening means in which the operating element has an added degree of safety in which no combustible gases are present.
2. To provide a fastening means in which the operation is portable and is not tethered to either an electrical outlet or to an air compressor. This increases operator mobility since they do not have to worry about cords or air hoses.
3. To provide a fastening means in which the operation doesn""t fatigue the operator due to excessive precessional forces or multiple hammer strokes during the driving operation.
4. To provide a fastening means in which the operation doesn""t result in loud noises caused by combustion of explosive gases.
5. To provide a fastening means in which the control of the actual nail is possible electronically allowing greater safety means to be employed.
6. To provide a fastening system in which the source of energy is a rechargeable power supply thus eliminating the use of disposable fuel cell cartridges and decreasing the environmental impact.
7. To provide a fastening means in which the device is mechanically simpler to construct and simpler to operate.
8. To provide a fastening means in which a mechanical advantage is employed to increase the force on the nail as the nail depth into the substrate increases.
9. To provide a fastening means in which substantial precessional forces are only present during a short interval centered around the nail drive time.
10. To provide a fastening means in which the nail-driving anvil is positively returned to its rest position.
11. To provide a fastening means in which the kinetic energy storage mechanism (flywheel) is at a resting or near resting condition between cycles thus increasing the safety of the mechanism.
Further objects and advantages will become more apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.